When most people think of stylish options for television and video, they think of the latest model of flat screen, not projectors. Projectors, after all, are made to blend into the background, hidden on shelves and in drop downs in the back of the room.
Until now.
The Coolist has the goods on the latest HD projector, the OO Wireless projector, designed by David Riesenberg. Not only is the sleek design a major improvement over the clunky boxes we are used to, but the projector itself is said to feature wireless capabilities. A lithium battery will provide three hours of uninterrupted power, good for all but the longest of movies.
Unencumbered by wires, and featuring premium aesthetics, the projector can finally be released from the wall. Homes with rooms that are not conducive to conventional HD setups may now be able to feature fully-functional home theater systems.
For some larger rooms the projector may make perfect sense, in other situations like retail spaces, a large screen can envelope the audience and create a terrific in-person HDTV experience. In the past, you lost some quality of picture by using a projector. Now with an HD projector you don’t have to compromise picture quality for picture size.
Hey–government bureaucrats and Congress are easy whipping boys (and girls), but sometimes it works in your favor. In the midst of the recession Congress rushed to fix a problem (that they caused, but hey, this isn’t a political website : ) and in doing so they jumped on the clunkers bandwagon, first using it as a way to resuscitate the auto industry by providing some government funds for trading in cars that were not up to environmental standards. Of course you needed to purchase a new vehicle, but that’s beside the point.
What’s good for the car industry is good for appliances too, right? Things are not that simple in government. When it came to implementing the same style program in a highly decentralized retail industry like appliances, they hit some bumps in the road. One major pothole was that each state had to have a different criteria for Cash for Clunker Appliances. Technically it’s called the Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program
This, however, works in the consumers favor . . . maybe. To borrow a political paraphrase, it’s Spring in America and with the economy showing signs of rebounding (because it’s a market and markets do that). That clunker program may well be still going on in your state. That’s right, you might be chomping at the bit for a new refrigerator, that dishwasher might be on its last legs, and who knows how old that range is! Regulators and appliance stores are just waiting to see if you qualify.
I can tell you Clunker Appliance programs have closed in the following states
· Florida
· Illinois
· Iowa
· Kansas
· Minnesota
· Rhode Island
· South Dakota
· Texas
But the rest are up for grabs. Visit the Department of Energy’s website for more details. They are updating state programs with the most current information.
When most people think of subwoofers, they think of teenagers blasting music from the basement or their cars at stomach churning levels. Bass has a number of negative connotations, so it’s no surprise that many home theater system buyers consider it an afterthought.
But there is more to the sub-woofer than loud music and Jerry Bruckheimer movies. They perform a crucial role in any home stereo system, picking up any sound element that hits the lower register. This can include film scores, percussion, doors slamming, and even dialogue.
A good subwoofer will invariably enhance any home theater experience. The Audiophiliac (CNET’s resident high-end audio expert) has some great recommendations on where to place your subwoofer.
This layout below is from Your Home Theater Design blog
Think it doesn’t matter? Think again. Different systems demand different placement of your subwoofer. Beach Camera specializes in Home Theater audio systems.
Looking to upgrade your subwoofer? Don’t even have a subwoofer? Visit CNET for comprehensive reviews to determine the right fit for your system.
Classic film buffs are buzzing about Turner Classic Movies finally becoming available in High Definition (HD). Ted Turner, of course, is known for loving restorations (and a few controversial ones ) but most agree that the films shown on TCM represent the rich history of American cinema.
Who would have thought, decades ago, that we would one day have the opportunity to watch Billy Wilder classics in our own home, with even more clarity than the original print? There was a time in history when we thought many of these films would be lost to the ages (a fate which has met only a small handful of films ).
Of course, if you want to enjoy Turner Classic Movies in High Definition, you have to have HD ready electronic equipment. If you were waiting to upgrade to a home theater system, thinking that HDTV was only for football games and pay per view, now might be the time to make the move.
One more thing, letterbox viewing can be fun, especially since it’s the way the director intended and you have a really big HDTV screen in a really dark room. You get that movie theater like experience that makes you smell buttered popcorn. Anyway, there are some who don’t like the letterbox view or believe if you watch plenty of letterbox style movies your HDTV screen will wear unevenly. CNET has an interesting piece on whether to configure your HDTV screen to remove the black bars in the letterbox and stretch the moving image to fill the screen.
One way to get that theater effect is to put a big screen in a small dark room. Big like 60″ LG Plasama Big
For the best prices for modern viewing of Classic films check
Uncategorized | Albert Maruggi | 
April 25, 2010 6:51 am | 
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